The Bill actress Lisa Maxwell blames two miscarriages on the stress of her career

Actress Lisa Maxwell has revealed she quit ITV show The Bill after suffering two miscarriages.

The 58-year-old star, who played Detective Inspector Samantha Nixon on the show for seven years, told the Mirror that she believes the long hours spent filming the hit drama contributed to two miscarriages she suffered in 2008.

‘I left because I wanted to have my private life back,’ she said.

‘I’d had two miscarriages and my husband and I weren’t getting along great, and my daughter was three when I went in it and 10 or something when I left.’

Lisa, who is married to Paul Jessup and has one daughter – Beau, now 17 – added of her time on the programme: ‘You never really know why you have a miscarriage, but you can always look back and blame it on something.

‘What I needed to do was to face up to what had happened and deal with it, because the danger for me – as with anything bad that ever happens in my life – is I work through it… which isn’t necessarily functional.’

Lisa played Detective Inspector Samantha Nixon for seven years on The Bill

Lisa left the show in 2009 and went on to join the Loose Women panel as a presenter.

She said about her time on the show: ‘Being a Loose Woman is not a job. For me, it was always something you do because you do something else.

‘Loose Women for me, as a mum – finishing at 1.30pm after a live show and then having the day to be a mum and a wifey – was heavenly and just what I needed. But it made me very lazy, so I did that for way too long.

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‘I had the time of my life getting drunk and misbehaving with a load of old birds, it was bloody marvellous. It was money for old rope and a real light relief.’

Lisa is currently starring in Channel 4 show Hollyoaks as Tracey Donavon. She also joined former colleagues from The Bill last week to celebrate the show’s episodes returning to the TV.

The drama, which ran for six years, will be replayed on the Drama Channel on weekdays at midday.